• For years, Carly Fiorina was voted the Most Powerful Woman in Business in the US. Her riveting memoir, Tough Choices, traces that rise to power and finally her sudden descent from it. I did not follow Carly Fiorina’s career as avidly as I did others but her unexpected ouster post the celebrated HP-Compaq leadership did leave me wondering and therefore I was waiting for months for October 9 when the book was formally launched.

I also ultimately judge a book by the number of lines that I underline. These lines inspire me as I hope they will inspire those who read this compelling book. Carly lived the first part of her life to please her father with great grades.

After Stanford, she suddenly had no idea what she wanted to do. She stumbled upon AT&T, and then went on to head Lucent where she kicked $85 million to take up an assignment as the head of Hewlett-Packard.

This book is about a woman who made tough choices all her life. Be it stepping out of law school or hopping off Lucent. Why, even digging in her Jimmy Choo heels over the merger of HP and Compaq.

Many critics have felt that there is scant greatness in anyone who cashes in $100 million while chain-sawing thousands of careers. That notwithstanding the fact is that Carly ran her life her way.

Early on in the book she quotes Camus who said, “To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” She talks about bullfighting and how when a bull is threatened, he returns to his carencia (his supposedly safe spot in the ring). “We cannot return to our comfort zones”, she says. “We cannot retreat to the familiarity of how it used to be.” Tough Choices is an easy choice for anyone who has had to make them in life. And haven’t we all?

• I have some generous friends who often come back from their sojourns from all over the world and toss me the odd CD or DVD. Fresh from Paris , a friend introduced me to Manu Chao’s Clandestino.

The name Manu Chao is rather Tangraish if you know what I mean. But the music is simply wonderful. While his origins are French, three years ago Manu turned his back to the Bastille and went off to sunny Spain where he cobbled together music from all over.

There is a reggae spirit to the entire album as there are shades of salsa. But the spine is distinctly Spanish-French and the entire feel of the album is cohesively international. Manu Chao is currently dominating most billboards in Paris. He’s destined to dominate most music systems worldwide. Listen to Clandestino, which sets the tone and tenor. Bongo Bong has a languid sense around it. Mentira is superbly soulful as is Welcome to Tijuana. A captivating compilation from a greatly gifted artist.

•That I go weak in the knees over British cinema is a well-known fact. Actually, I go weak in the knees over most things British. Period. I’ve also always felt that Helena Bonham Carter never ever got her true due.

She is a first rate actress who completely excels in The Heart Of Me. The film is set in 1930s London. The camerawork is magical as it captures the city in all its legendary bleakness. The film is a drama based on a very simple plot. There are two sisters, Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams.

Williams is ostensibly happily married to Paul Bettany. Bonham Carter visits her sister and commences a roaring affair with her sister’s husband. She gets pregnant and then the rest of the film is a torrent of tragedies. Incredible performances and deft direction by Thaddeus ’Sullivan make this an extraordinary film to watch.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma